No Longer No One
by Possibilities94
Summary: Post ADWD. Nymeria finds No One in an unexpected place. Rated T for animal cruelty and possible sexual encounters. Older!Arya Rating may change at a later date. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: A Cage

**A/N: Post ADWD. All recognizable characters/places are Martin's. All plot is mine:)**

"She doesn't look ferocious," said the fat Tyroshi merchant. He took a noisy slurp of Dornish red from a jewel encrusted goblet as he inspected the creature in front of him. "I can't use house pets in the pits."

"Mightn't look like much m'lord, but she'll prove her worth where it counts," replied the Westerosi trader. The man was disheveled, a bare-thread cloak wrapped around his scrawny shoulders. There was a cold in his bones-the Tyroshi could see it. His grey eyes were haunted and hungry; a desperate man of desperate times. Winter had come to Westeros not two years past; it had settled in for a long stay, a houseguest who knew not when to leave.

News of this hard winter had reached the Summer Isles, along with tales of the blue eyed dead ones come back to life.

"A man was desperate for better times if he was willing to capture a creature such as this," thought the Tyroshi. He stroked his purple goatee as he pondered the man's asking price. The caged beast didn't look like much. Huddled in a corner, with matted hair and scars all over her body, it looked like an animal with no fighting spirit left. That would not do in the pits.

Taking a sharpened spear from a line of training instruments, the fat man stuck the point in between the bars of the cage towards the far corner where the animal was curled.

"M'lord I wouldn't do that..."started the Westerosi. He was viciously cut off by an ear splitting snarl as the beast leapt to her feet. She tore the spear from the merchant's hands and flung it to the far corner of the room.

Though she couldn't stand to her full height in the cage-even half starved and beaten-Nymeria's furious yellow eyes glared down at the purple bearded man.

Her actions did not intimidate as she had intended. The man sneered at her in a cold, calculating manner.

"She will do."

He turned on his heel and headed away from the direwolf, leaving Nymeria once again alone in her cage.

** A/N:I plan on making this a short story but I will adjust to reviews and followers. I already know how it will end so everyone else must be patient:) **

**_Valar Dohaeris_**


	2. Chapter 2: A Walk

**A/N: Post ADWD. No grammar nazis. Reviews are love. Credit where credit is due aka Mr. Martin. The usual yadda yadda.**

**Also-Lyla is pronounced LIE-lah and Biro is bye-row. Millo-Mihl-low.**

**You're welcome because it drives me crazy when I don't know how to pronounce a name. XD**

"We've got another one Lyla." The big Braavosi boy bustled into her bedroom. "C'mon get up."

Lyla groaned and rolled over. "Forget it. It's too early."

Biro threw open the windows so the light hit Lyla's eyes just right. "Too bad. Millo got new shipment last night. They need to be ready for the show two nights from now."

"Ugh. It makes me sick." Lyla spit on the stone floor. "Bastards get the glory and riches. We get the shit."

Biro chuckled. "That we do. Hopefully they'll be so drunk they won't notice if we dip into their winnings."

"I'll drink to that," Lyla said as she rolled out of bed. She reached for the wine skin on the nightstand from the night before but Biro snatched it out of her hand.

"Ah ah ah," he danced away as she glared at him. "Milo's boss is going to be there today so no drinking on the job."

Lyla growled at him. "How the hell am I supposed to make it through the day then?"

"You'll think of something," he said as he took a drink himself. Making a face he put it down. "Don't know how you can stand the stuff."

Lyla continued to glare at him as she pulled on a clean tunic and breeches. She was a tiny athletic thing with observant blue grey eyes and choppy shoulder length black hair. Her round face was always guarded, even though her tongue was quick to insult and even quicker to get her out of trouble. After 17 name days, give or take, she knew there was no hope for a womanly figure. However it was easier to go unspotted in a crowd if one didn't have huge breasts for the rest of the crowd to ogle at.

Ignoring Biro's continued commentary about different wines, she headed out the door. Even though Lyla had a drink- alright many drinks- every nigh, she was never so drunk that she did not have her wits nor her dagger about her. She was as quick with her weapon as she was with her tongue; both were becoming quietly notorious in working side of the Braavosi fighting pits.

Some of Meeren's previous fighters had fled when the Dragon Queen had arrived and abolished the pits there. They moved onto Braavos; a new city with new blood to be spilled. While no slaves were permitted to be brought from other Free Cities animals, sellswords, and former pit fighters were essential in providing Braavos' newest entertainment.

Lyla and Biro trudged through the marketplace, avoiding the eyes and voices of the street merchants around them. Most sold fruit, trinkets, or household items. Some sold skin, a promise of soft silk and a warm bed in their eyes. Lyla did her best to ignore the people selling those certain wares. All things sexual made her uncomfortable. She'd kissed a few boys, fought with more, but none had made her wish for something more than friendship. As the duo stepped onto the ferry that would bring them to what the locals called "Commorte Island", she thought of how she and Biro had first met on the dreary place.

**A/N: I've got the other half of this chapter almost finished. It should be up tomorrow night. Read and review! 3**


	3. Chapter 3: A Meeting

Biro was an ally; maybe even a friend. They had found each other when she was lurking on the outskirts of Commorte Island, looking for a way into the pits. She wanted to see the show, she explained. Biro expressed his surprise that such a small and unimposing creature had any interest in the brutality found in the pits.

"It's not really a place for young ladies," he explained.

His shock grew when he found a dagger at his ribs and a quiet smile on the girl's face.

"I'm not a lady," she said in a soft voice. "Please let me see the show."

After nearly shitting his pants, Biro had gotten her up close and personal to the fights. One of the empty entrance gates gave them a perfect view of the fights. When she watched animals and men mangle one another with a blank expression on her face, Biro knew she was no ordinary girl. Only when the shouts were silenced and the crowds dispersed did she comment that it made her sick to see blood spilled for entertainment. Then she proceeded to help him muck out the cells of the surviving animals, clean the wounds of the fighters, and washing the blood out from the pit. When all the work was finished she left without a word.

She came back the next night and the next until everyone had assumed that she always worked there.

When Lyla noticed how Biro's secret she didn't tell him about it at first. He would serve the gamblers extra strong wine during a fixed fight. Then when they were sloppily drunk and congratulating one another, Biro would slip a few coins into his pocket and then leave them with the cheap wine to finish off the night. After seeing him do this multiple times, Lyla cornered him one night and said that she wanted in.

Now they were partners in work and crime. Lyla knew it would pay off in the end.

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As she stepped onto Commorte Island, Lyla instantly noticed the feeling of unease in the air. She could smell it; the stench was not unlike fear. The atmosphere was tense; the calm before the storm.

"What d'you reckon's happened?" Biro muttered.

"Not sure. Just keep your head down."

They walked hurriedly to the coliseum that was centered in the middle of the isle. It was all stone and a bit worse for wear; though a bit rough around the edges it was a formidable building with miles of underground stone tunnels and holding pens. The cells they passed were used for animals and sometimes particularly aggressive fighters. As they walked down into the lower levels, all was eerily quiet. Fearsome creatures cowered in corners. Warriors anxiously waited without a word. The air was so tense Lyla felt like her chest was being compressed.

She took a quiet breath to steady herself. Biro even looked uneasy; he who always had a smile on his face was tight lipped and grim-eyed.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the stone hall as one of the younger cell cleaners rushed away from the end of the line. Before he could slip by, Lyla grabbed his arm. "What the fuck's going on?"

The boy avoided her eyes. "The big boss is here. He's got a new shipment."

"I know that dumb arse," Lyla said impatiently. "Why is everyone so on edge?"

The boy just cast a long panicky look toward the end of the hallway and then took off running. His ragged breath was the only sound to be heard.

"Lot of help he was," muttered Biro.

Lyla shrugged and walked towards the end of the hallway. There was a cage at the end of the hall; a huge cage with dirty boxes piled around it and stones on the top to keep the lid on. With no window light to see by, the shadows were even more ominous and the inhabitant of the cage was shrouded in darkness. Biro tried to hold Lyla back as she cautiously crept towards the cage, and the creature inside it, but she shrugged him off. As she finally got close enough to see she realized the creature was massive and fur covered. The beast stiffened and turned around in the cage, scraping the bars as it went. Biro let out a gasp as fierce yellow eyes locked onto Lyla's blue grey ones.

"What the hell is that thing?"

In that moment, eyes locked with one of the wildest creatures in the world, Lyla knew that she was no longer No One. _Valar Morghulis_, her life's prayer, meant nothing if she was not No One. If she did not continue to forget who she was then it all had been for naught. But this creature, with one look, had sent a crack driving into the wall around her locked away memories. There was no flood, no melt down, no intense recollections that some Faceless Men experienced when faced with parts of their old lives. Only one thing trickled out of the cracked barricade and into the forefront if her mind.

"_Nymeria_," whispered a quiet, younger voice from inside the recesses of her mind. "_Her name is Nymeria._"

**_A/N: Amnesia effected No One anyone? Reviews are love!_**


	4. Chapter 4: A Smell

_Sister._

Nymeria took a deep breath through her nose as she blinked open her eyes. The cage she had stayed in was hard, cold, and surrounded by black. The darkness was no issue for her; she could see fantastically in the dark. Her other senses were heightened as well. From fear, from starvation, from the hopelessness coming from the other stone cages.

But now Nymeria smelled_ her_.

_Girl-wolf._

_Protector._

_Helper._

_Friend._

_Sister._

Nymeria felt a happy bark crawling up her throat and was about to turn around when...wait.

She could smell the hesitation as the girl-wolf stepped forward. She paused and stiffened. The fear from the big two-legs was assaulting her nose but she ignored it. There was a more pressing problem.

Something smelled wrong.

She smelled wrong.

It was definitely her. No doubt about that. But there was something suppressing the connection between them. Nymeria took another deep breath and her lungs clenched.

Dark, like Old Magic in the Winterlands. Rotting like dead men's eyes after they've been left out in the woods too long. Cold was in her sister like the frozen nights of Winter.

A dark hall with dying souls and sickness all around. A lying waif who taught secrets. A kindly man with a worm for an eye. The man with hair of blood and snow who started girl-wolf on this dark journey.

**Death**.

Death emanated from her long-lost sister.

Girl-wolf was in this new smell, wrapped up in a cocoon of Death itself. Death's power overwhelmed her. So much so that Nymeria felt surprised that she could still smell girl-wolf.

She turned around and felt a shiver go through her, making her scrape against the bars of her cage. Nymeria's eyes searched for the grey orbs she knew would meet her yellow ones. A shiver ran through her when she could not find them.

A different girl stood where girl-wolf should have. Small, black hair, and the eyes. The eyes weren't right. Nymeria heard the dark boy whisper, "What the hell is that thing?"

Nymeria stood, hopeful, waiting. The girl-wolf stared at her for a moment. Nymeria thought she saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes-like a friend from a wandering pack that returned to visit. As the girl opened her mouth, Nymeria's tail gave an unnoticeable wag in the darkness.

"Not a damn clue," said the girl-wolf as her eyes turned cold. "Let's go see what Millo wants to do with it."

Nymeria's ears went back and her tail drooped as the girl walked away with her big friend. She sat down and waited for the girl-wolf to come back, even though she knew it was a slight hope.

She knew her sister was lost. Not gone though. Not completely.

**_A/N: HA! Bet you weren't expecting No One to ignore Nymeria huh? And for the record, because I know someone will ask- Lyla never said who Nymeria was out loud last chapter. I liked doing this until I can sit down and write a proper chapter. Thanks all! Reviews are love! :3_**


	5. Chapter 5: A Fear

There was no way in any hell she was going to jeopardize this mission for a dog.

"_Valar Morghulis, Valar Morghulis_" No One chanted in her head.

"_Nymeria_," whispered the young girl inside. "_Her name is Nymeria_. "

"_Shut up_," raged Cat of the Canals moodily. "_We can't let your stupid memories get in the way of this mission._"

"_Valar Dohaeris_," whispered the memory a man with many faces. "_All_ _men must serve. Who do you serve lovely girl?"_

Lyla shook her head as she scrubbed one of the hyenas stalls. The damned animal had won the fight against a 3 year old lion cub but died of infection in the night. The Many-Faced God had not been merciful to that creature.

"_And he's not being merciful to me now_," pouted the young girl who had recognized the direwolf. "_He wouldn't have let me see her if he didn't want me to complete this mission._"

"_Or maybe it's a temptation and you should just stick with the plan you ninny!_" Cat of the Canals rolled her eyes.

"_I am not a ninny! _"

"_You're sure acting like one!_"

"_Valar Dohaeris. Valar Morghulis!_" chimed in a man.

"SHUT UP!" Lyla roared throwing her rag and kicking her bucket against the stone wall.

All was quiet in her head but then a cold voice whispered "I don't believe you should be treating my property like that wench."

Lyla turned around and saw Millo and a bald, fat Tyroshi with a purple beard staring at her. Millo looked terrified and the Tyroshi looked at her with frozen fury.

"No m'lord. Sorry m'lord." Lyla looked down like she had been taught to do in the presence of important people. They didn't want to see your impertinence.

"If I ever see you doing anything like that again, I assure you that you will find yourself in one of my shows. Is that clear?"

"Yes m'lord," Lyla said quietly.

The Tyroshi nodded. "Good. Now, girl, there's a creature here that, quite frankly,terrifies the shit out everyone else who works my pits. Have you seen this creature yet?"

"I'm not sure m'lord. Is it a man or a beast?"

The Tyroshi narrowed his eyes. "A beast. A little mouse told me that you were seen walking up to it with almost no fear. Is this true?"

"I deal with a lot of beasts m'lord. Some more terrifying than you."

"You insolent little shit," the Tyroshi growled and backhanded her across the face, sending her spinning onto the floor. Her lip was bleeding as she stood back up.

Millo started, "M'lord I know she meant no harm by it. She's just a stupid street rat she don't know-"

The Tyroshi raised his hand and cut Millo off. "She will be the best for the beast. They will make a good match. The direwolf has a similar attitude problem."

He turned away from Lyla headed down the corridor. "Follow me."

She did as she was bid, following meekly to the place she dreaded, knowing nothing good could come put of going to a direwolf's cage.

As she followed the pair, Lyla did not like the whispers that were going on between Millo and the Tyroshi. From her distance behind them, she only caught snippets.

"...can't trust the bitch..."

"...huge profit..."

"...too young..."

"...spitfires. Both of them."

"...but what if she..."

"That'll be on your head won't it?" The Tyroshi snarled.

"Yes m'lord." Millo bowed slightly looking nervous.

As the trio reached the direwolf's cage, the beast looked at them morosely. Lyla shook her head. It was just a dumb beast, it didn't have facial expressions.

Neither did the merchant as he turned his fat self to face Lyla. "Since you are becoming notorious for your fighting skills outside the pit, you will be putting them to use in the pit. However, Millo claims you're too valuable to waste." He narrowed his frosty eyes at Lyla. " I don't believe him for a second. But chances must be given. You will be training the fighting animals."

Lyla gasped internally. 'Training' was a kind word for it. Trainers beat, starved, humiliated, and sometimes killed the pit animals. Owners said it was to train the beasts to put on a show for the blood-lusty crowd. Most of the trainers were just paid sadists. They made animals angry and terrified; a scared confused animal was even more deadly than an injured one. Lyla had never wanted to be one of those bastards. That's why she got in good with Biro and not a training assistant.

Loving her silence, and believing her to be frightened, the fat man turned and gestured to the beast behind him, his silk robe whispering as it shifted. "Your first assignment will be this wolf-bitch."

**_A/N: So terribly sorry to have to do this but it is essential to the plot. Also, for those of you who are wondering when Gendry will arrive, it will be within the next couple chapters! Reviews are love!_**


	6. Chapter 6: A Trick

** A/N:This chapter contains animal cruelty. Like the kind in the commercials that make us all cry on tv. So be aware. Also it was very difficult to write. That's why I wrote it from Nymeria's pov, because I couldn't stand to be in Arya's head as I wrote this.**

"They promoted you? YOU of all people?" Biro ranted as he paced Lyla's bedroom. "Why the fuck would they do that? You're too scrawny to be strong enough to handle some of those animals."

"Watch it asshole," she glared pulling on her tunic.  
"Not a damn clue," Lyla sighed as she laid down on her bed. "But I'm supposed to train the direwolf first. I guess they think it'll kill me and then they'll be done with me and I can't cause anymore problems with the workers."

"So I guess I'm on my own doing the warhorse stalls this week huh?"

Lyla chuckled. "Leave you to think of that while I very well might have my head ripped off."

"Well if you do at least you won't be able to smell me. Gods, I have to bathe at least three times before it makes a dent in the stench."

"You'll be fine you big pussy," Lyla said.

"Says you. Anyway gotta run, there's a girl down on one of the pleasure barges I've been talking to and it's her night off so I'm taking hr out."

Lyla propped herself up on her elbows. "You know it's her job to act interested in you right?"

"Yeah but a man can dream right?" Biro shrugged as he headed out the door.

"Guess so..." Lyla pulled the blanket up to her chin. A man can dream, she thought. And a girl can be afraid to do something she wasn't certain of.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The next day she tried to go about her business as usual. Get up, get dressed, take the ferry to work. Biro was missing-probably sleeping off his hangover.

Lyla sighed. She would have to face this herself.

You are No One, she reminded herself. You feel nothing, know no emotions, know no pain.

As she walked slowly to the direwolf's cage Lyla let herself slip entirely away. No One's eyes glazed over. There were no emotions betrayed. Only the cold face of Death.

Nymeria POV

She smelled girl-wolf before she saw her. This time Death was completely overwhelming her. Nymeria looked up and saw cold-wrong eyes looking back at her. She tensed in fear but didn't let it show in her ears or her tail.

Girl-wolf opened the door of the cage and pointed to the hall that led to the training ring. "Out."

Nymeria'a ears went back against her will. This was not expected. Half-hearted and wary, she took a step out of the cage. When nothing happened, she continued down the hall as girl-wolf had ordered. Into a dark room they went, past half-crazed men and beasts.

At the end of the hall was a dark room that Nymeria cautiously crept inside. She hated the feel of it; there were bones underfoot and slimy darkness everywhere.  
The old wooden door slammed behind her and Nymeria was cast into total darkness. She whimpered and scratched at the door as her eyes adjusted. But before they could completely allow her to see, something hard crashed into the back of her skull, turning it all to darkness once again.

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As Nymeria came out of her daze, she shook her head and whimpered at the pain. Her vision was foggy and before she could even motivate herself to move, something lashed across her skin, causing her to cry out. It felt like nine sharp claws digging into her skin at once. She turned to try and get a glimpse of her attacker, teeth bared, but felt a stab at her other side, this one deeper than the first.  
"You're just an ugly little bitch aren't you?" called out a voice. "Useless without your smell."

"A dumb beast is all," said the same condescending voice from a different side of the room. "Useless for anything but a good fight."

"Couldn't even stay with your mistress." A rock hit Nymeria's face as she tried to get her bearings. "That cunt didn't even want you."

An injury came with each insult.

"No pack." Smack.

"No home." Stab.

"Not even a proper wolf." Slam.

She rose to her feet and growled, despite the deprivation of her senses, trying to catch a glimpse of Death as she circled.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Nymeria dipped low in case of another attack. She bared her teeth and snarled, ready to move, when a young voice called out, "Nymeria?"

The direwolf raised her head in shock. Girl-wolf?

Stepping closer, Nymeria saw a glimpse of steel grey eyes as a little form rushed to hug her. "Nymeria I've missed you so much!"

Nymeria opened her muzzle to bark happily when a rock smashed against her skull.

She fell to the ground and felt her life's blood pour out of her.

"You'll heal up fine you dumb bitch." said Death. Nymeria whimpered as she heard footsteps whispering away. "It only gets worse from here."


End file.
